There are some stories that every football fan loves. There's the one-club-man like Paolo Maldini, there's the home-grown boy who saved his team in a European Cup final like Iker Casillas, that model pro who cares only about his football, like Paul Scholes; the player who leaves his heart and soul on the pitch everytime, like Di Maria; and of course there's the man who resisted the big bucks to stay and help his boyhood club - like Alan Shearer. One person who flies in the face of all of these romantic stereotypes, is Neymar.
The latest reports coming from Brazilian newspaper 'Estado de Sao Paolo' claim that Santos and Barcelona have reached a 60 million euro agreement to transfer the player in January 2013. Am I mad because we may lose out on the latest overhyped samba flavor of the month player to come out of South America? No.
What really gets to me is that inspite of us being the biggest, most successful institution in football, a 19 year old has our metaphorical cojones in his back pocket. To refresh your memory - despite Jose Mourinho himself telephoning him to join the team, he has led Real Madrid on all summer as if he is the cool kid and we're his obsessive fangirl. He also went as far as signing a contract with us, in addition to extorting a sizeable salary. Not only that, from what I hear, he also convinced Uncle Florentino to buy him a Porsche Panamera, free unlimited air tickets between Brazil and Spain for his family, and an apartment in downtown Madrid for his priest. I wonder if anybody bothered to ask him what he was going to do with his own 5 million euros a year?
There are some players that have raised red flags for me long before we'd bought them. Remember Antonio Cassano? I knew that was a disaster waiting to happen given his track record. Lassana Diarra's tantrums this pre-season? Saw it coming from a mile away when he couldn't hold it down with either Chelsea or Arsenal. In the same way, these Neymar rumors have really set the alarm bells ringing for me. Now, even if this murmured 60 million euro deal between Barca and Santos doesn't materialize, I say we let Barca have their latest expensive flop since Ibrahimovic. (Not to mention he will keep up their 'Ugly Hair' tradition with Pinto)
Think about it - if he can be such an ungrateful diva long before he even sets foot in Madrid, once the going gets tough there's a good chance he's going to stink like sour milk.
My sentiments exactly, just reading the title! But what bothers me is all the press hype, not the player himself. We don't really know what the actual negotiation is, only what we hear, so lets not be too judgemental of the player. He could be great. I do feel however he is way overhyped in the press. Robinho was more awesome when at Santos and couldn't keep the level when coming to Madrid.
Agree with you there. The press is probably just as guilty if not more. Maybe it's just me, but I really believe that when Real Madrid comes calling, you can't put them on hold. Sure, the media has been pestering him all summer, but initially he was going to announce his future after the Copa America, then sometime after that, and then a few weeks later again etc. I remember Ribery did a similar thing last year (?) and I was so glad he didn't end up coming in the end.
In addition, when asked specifically about Real Madrid, he goes ahead and mentions Barcelona as well. A few weeks ago he also came out and said that Barcelona is the greatest team in the world or something, shortly after our club - even our manager - had made major efforts to persuade him. These little isolated incidents put together have really left me with a sour taste.
On the other hand, look at Coentrao - he came out and flat out said (even though he was still a Benfica player) that he wants to play for Real Madrid and that he cant wait to wear the white shirt.
Like you said, Neymar could turn out to be incredible, but even Robinho, Denilson, and Adriano were hyped beyond belief.
An interviewer from AS today pinpoints exactly the problem I have with this whole Neymar deal:"Llama mucho la atención que Neymar no esté como loco con fichar por el Madrid, como sucede en la mayoría de los casos."
To which his father responds, he doesn't want only Madrid, but also Barcelona. There's something about this attitude that irks me. Am I the only person feeling like this?
Well Barca has been winning the most recently so its understandable that players are now interested in going there. Although I think it would be a mistake at this point, since I don't think they can keep up recent success much longer. I'm not that impressed with this player, like I said, he may be great, but our team is already stacked.
